


Third Time's a Charm

by Daphnean



Series: Soo Saptember [14]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Blind Date, M/M, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 06:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15989450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daphnean/pseuds/Daphnean
Summary: After a string of dates that go nowhere, Sehun finally might have found a connection.





	Third Time's a Charm

At least if his date bailed on him, he could visit the petting zoo for condolences. Another bonus would be Chanyeol buying his lunch a couple days in a row, consumed with the guilt of setting him up on (another) unsuccessful blind date. It wasn’t as though Chanyeol had the worst taste ever, but he didn’t seem to realize that guys he found attractive didn’t make Sehun stand up and take notice.

Lu Han had been nice, but beyond the initial wow of physical attraction, there was no spark. Sehun liked to pretend he wasn’t softer than melted ice cream on a balmy summer day, but he believed in perfect, fairytale chemistry and Lu Han hadn’t given him that toe-curling excitement he was looking for. Although he did slip and fall right into the older man’s arms on the ice at the rink, drama heroine style. It made for a good story, at least, and a funny ending to the date.

He had to admit, Jongin had been a little better of a choice (in fact he was due to hang at the other man’s house next week), but their relationship chances jumped ship right towards platonic after one round of bowling. Sehun ended up laughing so hard at one of Jongin’s jokes that he nearly threw the ball into the wrong lane. By the second game, he was already showing the man pictures of Vivi in the least romantic way possible.

Neither date had been a disaster, but Chanyeol saw them both as failures. The puppy-dog pout he had the following Monday after each one was enough to make Sehun cave and give the man another chance to set him up. This time he promised he was “saving the best for last anyways.” Last also meant this would be the final date until Chanyeol scrounged up some more candidates for the picking. He could handle one more date.

Other than the instructions to wait by the balloon stall near the entrance to the zoo, Sehun wasn’t given any clues to his mystery suitor, not even when bribing Chanyeol with the rest of his brownie at lunch. No name, nor physical description left Chanyeol’s lips, compared to the vague up-selling speeches he’d gotten about Lu Han and Jongin.

“Excuse me.” A low voice stole him from where he’d been thoroughly sifting through his thoughts, staring out past the bird enclosure in front of him. “Are you Sehun?”

The first thing that caught his attention was how he had to look down. Both Jongin and Lu Han had been similar to him in height, but this man was far shorter; a bit narrower too. It was hard not to notice the full of his mouth, his round eyes even behind a pair of thick-framed glasses. Honestly, he was in ways more like the boy next door than any of his other dates, yet also more striking simultaneously. Captivating; that was the word Sehun thought suited him best.

“Chanyeol never gave me your name. I think he was worried he’d jinx it, like he said he did with the other guys he introduced me to.” Sehun smiled while it felt like nervous bird feathers, hollow and floaty, scattered in his belly.

The man rolled his eyes, but the gesture was softened by his smile. “That sounds like a Chanyeol thing to do. I’m Kyungsoo. And I would have brought flowers, but I worried they might get nibbled on by a goat and poison them or something, so I bought us some giraffe food instead.”

Sehun was utterly and wholly charmed. Five sentences in and he was already imagining date two. Flowers and giraffe food and oh fuck he had to spend a whole afternoon with this guy and not blow it? Before it had been easy, as he knew he’d expected no further dates to come, but now that Kyungsoo had impressed him _he_ had to impress the other man in return.

“That’s...really beyond sweet. And considerate too.” Sehun extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I hope you have an idea where you’re going around here, because I haven’t been to this zoo since I was seven.

Kyungsoo took his hand, shaking it firmly. “Not a clue. I’m not from the city, so...want to grab a map for us to share?”

“I’m all right with a little adventure, if you’re willing to walk around like an idiot with me as we end up taking a wrong turn or two.” Sehun grinned, hoping it came across as endearing as he intended.

The other man’s smile was easygoing, playful in return, so Sehun marked that as a success. “Gives us more time to talk, right? We can start with the bird house as it’s literally right there?”

“Yeah.” Sehun moved away from the wall he was leaning near to step closer to his date. “I was distracting myself by watching them a little from here.”

Kyungsoo nodded along as they walked. “I had an aunt who had a parrot of some sort, once. She taught it to swear accidentally, so as a child I when I’d spend the night...I’d hear whistles and “motherfucker” or “bullshit” from the covered cage in the living room.”

“Oh my God.” With language like that, Sehun was glad there were no kids around them currently, especially because he was laughing a little too maniacally at the image of a cussing bird. “Now I’m going to mentally hear all of the birds swearing and it’s all your fault.”

Still smiling, Kyungsoo held the door to the bird house open for him. “You’re welcome.”

They took their time admiring the different enclosures, Sehun looking for any nests or eggs that might be visible to the public, and sharing a little smalltalk as they went. A couple of times they had to wait as children took their own turns looking through the windows or fences, earning considerate smiles from their parents. As they finished walking through the building, Kyungsoo gently took his wrist.

“There’s an exit where you can feed the birds and walk directly through their cage. Would you like to do that?” Almost in apology for grabbing his wrist (even if the action had been gentle), the other man gently traced a circle along the protrusion of his wrist-bone. It was strangely intimate; soft.

Sehun wanted to thread their hands together, but he thought that might be a little soon. “That sounds cool, yeah.”

Once they were greeted by a zoo employee and given a small handful of feed, they were allowed into the enclosure. Kyungsoo took the first few steps inside. “What were these called again? Budgies or Parakeets?”

“Both? Oh they’re so tiny, colorful.” Sehun startled, but kept his ground (and in doing so didn’t spill any seeds), as one bird perched on his hands, dipping into the food he had in his palms.

Kyungsoo moved closer, chuckling as the bird seemed to duck between both of their open hands. “This one looks like lime sorbet.”

Suddenly tiny talons prickled his shoulder as another bird took hold. More fluttering and there were half a dozen birds on them, gathering between them and taking hold wherever they could. Most seemed to take to Sehun, much to Kyungsoo’s delight.

When he smiled, his face appeared almost distressed, before illuminating with joy, lips forming a heart. “I think they like that you’re taller. Maybe they think you’re a tree?”

“As long as they don’t poop on me I think I’ll be okay with that. Hey now, hold on. There’s not even food in my hair.” Sehun ducked, the bird not seeming to budge from the top of his head, even if he felt the air from its flapping wings.

Kyungsoo’s laughter was a bright undercurrent to his current birdpocalypse. “Here birds. I have plenty of-oh no.”

It was Kyungsoo’s turn to play Disney princess, birds on every perch they could land on or near him. As he was smaller, a few birds had ventured off, but most took to their new host greedily. He handled it far better than Sehun had, even if he held tension in the line of his shoulders.

“You look good in blue and green.” Sehun was carefully feeling up himself for any bird accidents, grateful they’d spared him.

Soon enough more people had entered the enclosure, so they were abandoned. “Birds are like cats. Once the food’s gone they are too.”

“Not a cat fan, I take it?” Sehun lead the way out of the exhibit, careful as they passed through the gates not to let any stray parakeets out.

“I like most animals, although I do have two dogs at home, so maybe I do have a puppy bias.” Kyungsoo tugged his phone from his pocket, pulling up pictures of two poodles. “Ink and Pepper.”

“Oh they’re really darling.” Sehun was weak, especially when imagining a puppy pileup on top of Kyungsoo. He could imagine the other man pressing kisses to the tops of their heads, using a softer, excited lilt when addressing them. “I have a dog too. Vivi.”

Soon he was pulling up pictures as well, Kyungsoo leaning close. “Oh, he’s really cute too. We did pay to look at other animals though, so maybe we should...”

Taking the plunge, Sehun pocketed his phone and took the other’s hand. “I’ll introduce you on our next date.”

Not taking the bait, but linking their fingers, Kyungsoo kept his expression and voice neutral. “Maybe.”

–

Each animal enclosure jump started a new conversation; whether or not Sehun liked animal print clothing or if Kyungsoo had ever eaten alligator jerky. Along the way they shared more about each other.

Of course, Sehun worked with Chanyeol at the entertainment company, although in different departments as he was a backup dancer (and a choreographer hopeful) compared to Chanyeol’s composition work. Kyungsoo was a local actor, mostly local theatre productions, who had met Chanyeol through some sound mixing he did for one of their shows.

Kyungsoo liked tea compared to coffee and savory over sweet. He tended to attract noisy friends and hadn’t dated much. The more Sehun learned, the more he wanted to discover. This...spark of wonder was what had been missing with Jongin and Lu Han, alongside attraction. Despite being a flirt, it was hard for Sehun to be truly drawn in by someone; Kyungsoo was the moon and he was a very helpless moth.

“Hyung.” Sehun had kept the other man’s hand as long as he was able, and luckily Kyungsoo hadn’t stolen it back yet, even as he was running the older a little ragged to reach the next exhibit. “We’re almost to the giraffes.”

Kyungsoo laughed, stumbling, but managing to keep up. “If I go down, you’re falling with me. They’re slow moving animals, we don’t have to run.”

That didn’t stop Sehun from rushing them into the line, patient as Kyungsoo took out the voucher for giraffe feed from his pocket. The birds had been startling, but even on the safe platform, Sehun felt a little more intimidated by the giraffes. They were so graceful from a distance, but up close he could see all of their eyelashes, the strong rotation of their jaws as they chewed.

Kyungsoo’s hand not occupied with food moved to the small of his back. “Big, but gentle. Like you, right?”

“I have been resisting making short jokes, but you keep making tall ones.” Sehun watched as the giraffe nearest to Kyungsoo stuck out its long, purple tongue towards the man’s palm. “Whoa.”

His date laughed, very gently this time, as he kept his palm open. “It tickles.”

“This is a lot more tongue than I expected to get on a first date.” Sehun had a visitor too, the giraffe not seeming to sense his unease, taking food from his palm too.

Kyungsoo pinched his side lightly. “There are children present.”

“And all the way over there. Hyung, indulge me this one time.” Sehun whined, just a small bit at the end of his sentence.

An exasperated sigh and Kyungsoo didn’t turn to look at him, but Sehun caught his smile. “I have spent the entirety of our date indulging you. Is this what dates with you are always going to be like?”

It was the first time that the other man had indicated the possibility of future dates between them, so Sehun wasn’t even detoured. “I give as much as I receive.”

The other man didn’t have a response, so they both continued to feed the giraffes, finishing with the chance to pet them thanks to the nearby handlers showing them how. A brief pause at the hand washing station and they were off again. This time, Kyungsoo held his hand out for Sehun to take automatically.

Their next stop was churros, Sehun wriggling his eyebows when he ordered a longer one, only for Kyungsoo to take a deliberate, vicious bite out of his in response. With the whole zoo to explore, it had felt a bit more like two or three dates rather than just one. As they got lost, and found their way, Sehun had grown comfortable with their conversations and silences both, as they always fell naturally.

He was almost disappointed when he saw the balloon stall and the macaws from earlier, indicating their return to the zoo entrance.

Despite how well the whole date had gone, Sehun still had fear winding tighter and tighter in his ribs. He already knew what he wanted; the third time really had been a charm. Kyungsoo was handsome, funny, and he made Sehun feel...like how he felt once he kicked his shoes off after a long day at the studio. It was a bit like home.

“The inevitable, awkward goodbyes.” Kyungsoo spoke up first, stopping just to the side of the entrance, as not to impede traffic.

Sehun nodded, gaze moving to his own shuffling feet. “I...don’t think I could have imagined a more fun time. The setting was amazing and the company even more so.”

A hum and he looked up, Kyungsoo stepping closer. “So how do we top this for date two?”

“I...anything.” Sehun’s smile crescented his vision, as he looked back up at Kyungsoo. “Skydiving or scuba lessons or roller coast-”

Kyungsoo laughed, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “Let’s exchange numbers, Sehunnie. But a theme park might not be a bad idea.”

Nearly dropping his phone in his hurry to pull it from his pocket, Sehun felt like he was already on the downhill, stomach rising up into his throat. “Only if I can hold your hand.”

As Kyungsoo walked away, waving back as he made his way to his car, Sehun turned to his phone and typed out a quick message to Chanyeol before moving to do the same.

_Hyung, I think I’m in love._

**Author's Note:**

> More SeSoo! These two are just adorable. Seeing as they've gone on many outings together in real life, it's easy to imagine how comfortable their relationship would be. I always worry about writing dates...seeing as I haven't gone on a date in like a decade (not even kidding, what is my life?!). I would like a zoo date anyways, so maybe you'll enjoy it too!
> 
> EXO and all other Kpop entertainers presented here are real people and so I remind you that this is just a fic, like a play with their stage personas as the actors. This is not intended to be a representation of who these men and women are or are not. Remember to love and respect them always. And thanks for reading! <3


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